Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish

The Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish is published every other year by the Ministry of the Environment in co-operation with the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Staff at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the Environment collect fish which are analyzed at the Ministry of the Environment laboratory in Toronto. The fish are analyzed for a variety of substances, including mercury, PCBs, mirex, DDT and dioxins. The results are used to develop the tables in the Guide, which give size-specific consumption advice for each species tested from each location. This advice is based on health protection guidelines developed by Health Canada.

The Sport Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program, which started in 1976, is the largest testing and advisory program of its kind in North America. Fish have been tested from approximately 1,700 locations in Ontario’s inland lakes and rivers and Great Lakes. Between 4,000 and 6,000 fish per year are tested through the program.

For further information on the program or results in the Guide, contact:

Sport Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program
Ministry of the Environment
Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch
125 Resources Road
Etobicoke, ON M9P 3V6

Telephone: (416) 327-6816
Hotline: 1-800-820-2716
e-mail: sportfish@ene.gov.on.ca